A Free Ride is a Fun Ride!

This year the international free public transport day took place on Saturday the 6th of March, and to celebrate it the Swedish commuter organisation Planka.nu arranged a huge – and free! – subway party. The idea was to raise awareness of the free public transport day and the question of making the public transport free, but also to celebrate and increase the feeling of community amongst the commuters in Stockholm.

We boarded the subway train at its first station and dressed it in pink garlands, balloons and Planka.nu merchandise. Then we turned up the volume on our newly released dubstep remix of the 70’s hit single “Love Train” from The O’Jays to welcome everyone boarding the train at the next station, Stockholm Central.

By first making their way into the subway for free and then jumping on the pink party train, all commuters going from the centre of Stockholm out into the suburbs could start their Saturday night party in the subway! Together we partied and celebrated a day of resistance to the fare-society.

The public transport is a place where Stockholmers spend a lot of time, and we wanted it to be more fun, more welcoming… and more pink! In the words of the former major, and founding father of the subway in Stockholm, the late Hjalmar Mehr: “Public transport is built for the common people, it is the carfree’s daily traffic route, every ride should be a feast, every station a colorful fairy castle!”